Posted on 10/22/2004 8:10:49 AM PDT by agenda_express
Candidate's Stage Fright Ends Debate
Parra: 'I Just Can't Do This'
October 22, 2004
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A northeastern Indiana congressional candidate said she abruptly ended a debate because she got stage fright.
Democrat Maria Parra walked off a television stage Thursday, ending what would have been her only debate with incumbent Republican Mark Souder in the 3rd District congressional race.
"I'm not used to being in front of the camera. ... I couldn't get my words out. I was just overwhelmed," she said after the aborted debate, which was being filmed at WPTA and would have been aired this weekend. The matchup has not been rescheduled and is not likely to be, The Journal Gazette reported Friday.
Parra said she "absolutely" thought backing out of the debate would hurt her politically, but hoped people would understand.
(Excerpt) Read more at theindychannel.com ...
Hey, I never begrudge anyone for failing. The only people who don't fail are those who never put themselves out to be in a position to fail and that is a lot less admirabe in my opinion than coming off looking foolish.
Honesty from a Democrat? Doubtful. Probably blew an o-ring in her Depends.
Mark Souder responded with graciousness and tact -- exactly what you'd expect from him.
Boy, is she in the wrong career. She probably doesn't like shaking folks' hands, either.
I can understand that statement, but what I imagine (I don't really know the woman) is that this is not an example of the little engine that could, but an example of a poser... Someone who enjoys pretending to be some romantic concept of a noble idealogue "stateswoman" and when it came to a time for her to actually perform, her fraud was exposed. The same lady trying to make some speech at the local PTA and having the same thing happen would likely be expected to be given a large degree of sympathy and gracious encouragement. But this lady is running for a real office, and it is not at all inappropriate to acknowledge her failure to perform in this venue as evidence of her masquerade, as well as evidence of her inability to perform effectively in the office which she seeks.
How come Indiana is so much more Republican than all the other Midwest states? Are there more Southern descendents there?
I don't know... I'm from NC. :o)
Indiana has always been very conservative (indeed, our governor even refused to call our state legislature for the entire duration of the Civil War--in the process running the state government out of his own pocket--for fear that the state legislature would vote to secede), but for a serious answer to your question, I believe it has to do with the fact that Indiana does not have many big cities.
If you look at the other Midwestern states around us, they are all fairly conservative places, but the big cities "cancel" out the votes of the conservatives. Central and Southern IL are pretty conservative, but you have the massive population of Chicago that swings IL to the democratic side. Same with Ohio. Same with Michigan. But look to Kentucky, without any bigger cities, and you have conservativism.
All that aside, though, as a native and (former) 22 year resident of Indiana, I can tell you that it ain't all that conservative.
Yeah, I agree with you there. And if I were able to vote in Indiana I would never vote for her... But then based on her ideology I wouldn't vote for her if she sounded like Winston Chuchill :-)
Maria, here's a tip, If you are nervous in front of an audience, just picture yourself naked.
"she said after the aborted debate"
LOL
What an unfortunate choice of language
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If only the Dems could all bring themselves to abort debates instead of people.
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